Underneath all the yee-hawing, a main aim of the National Western Stock Show is to round up the next generation and introduce them to agriculture. Up until a century ago, the majority of children grew up on farms or at least had grandparents who did.

The 1920 U.S. census showed that, for the first time, the majority of Americans lived in cities and towns. Nowadays, most kids are four or five generations removed from farm life. Don't be surprised to find out from a youngster that milk comes from the grocery store and beef comes from McDonald's.

The National Western is kid-friendly; you will not find better family entertainment. To involve kids, longtime former stock show General Manager Chuck Syl- vester listened back in 1980. That year Nancy Cervi, Miss Frontier Airlines, came up with the idea of having youngsters compete in bareback sheep riding. Nancy is the wife of Mike Cervi, son of legendary Den- ver journalist and rabble-rouser Gene Cervi. Mike jumped into the rodeo business and became the region's leading provider of rough stock - the broncos, bulls, steers and other critters who make the National Western Rodeo the most exciting, and dangerous, local sport.

Nancy used to do all the work herself, from selecting mutton-bustin' entrants to conducting the contest. She was swamped with hundreds of applications. From the beginning, she allowed girls as well as boys. Audiences loved it, and so did the kids and their parents.

"I treasure a lot of letters," Nancy says. "They talk about how much this does to interest kids in animals and to raise their self-esteem."

I don't know if you've ever tried holding on to a squirming, bleating sheep. It's harder than it looks. You grab the wool, but it slides around a lot on a creature running like a rabbit to get rid of its load. Few riders make it across the Coliseum floor. The ones who do stand as tall as any professional rodeo champ.

Everyone gets a trophy. Winners also get Frontier Airline tickets, buckles, boots and big smiles on their faces.

National Western President and CEO Pat Grant reports that the 2008 show, which concludes Sunday, is as kid- friendly as ever. The show involves 4H, Future Farmers of America, Petting Farms, Children's Ranchland, Pony Tails, Catch-a-Calf and a chance for anyone under 18 to enter their donkey in competition to pick the official mascot of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

More than 100,000 schoolchildren will be among about 700,000 visitors to Colorado's biggest single trade show and educational extravaganza. In the kids department, another favorite is the Stick Horse Rodeo in a corral of broomsticks with horsey heads. Tiny tots shoot out of the starting line, waving a hand in the air and keeping the other firmly on the imaginary bucking bronco, twisting and turning, rocking and rolling.

"How long have you been riding, little lady?" the announcer asked the little girl in a pink cowboy hat who won the competition last year.

"Uh, uh, just since today," she replied.

These stick-horse riders may be riding for the first time, but they may already be dreaming of the day they own their own animals. Perhaps they even look ahead to the day they'll bring their children to their first stock show.

Tom Noel welcomes your comments at coloradowebsites.com/dr-colorado. He's the author of "Riding High: Colorado Ranching and 100 Years of the National Western Stock Show."